474 REPORT — 1897. 



413. Rerrick. — 



Yin's sorrow, 

 Twa's mirth, 

 Three's a funeral, 

 Fowr's a birth, 

 Five's a shipwreck, 

 Six is a wadclin, 

 Seven's a death. 



Peacock. 



414. Corsock. — It is unlucky to have peacock's feathers in the house. 



The Adder. 



415. Kirkmaiden. — If one meets with an adder and tries to kill it, but 

 fails to do so by its escaping, a ' tryst ' is made to meet with it next day 

 at a fixed hour and place, and it will keep the ' tryst,' so that another 

 opportunity is given to put it to death. The uncle of one of my in- 

 formants actually did this. It was a common thing to do this when one 

 of my informants was a boy. 



416. A farmer of the name of Milnmine occupied the farm of Myroch. 

 One day he went to an uncultivated hillock that was covered with whins 

 to cut some. Near it was a hollow, and looking down into it from the 

 hillock, he saw a great number of adders — as many as would fill ' the box 

 of a cart — all squirming through each other,' witli a white one in the 

 middle of them. He threw among them the axe with which he was to 

 cut the whins, and turned and fled. Next day he returned to search for 

 his axe. In his search he found an adder- stone — a white stone with a 

 hole through the centre of it. He preserved it carefully by putting it 

 into his ' kist.' He was never without money afterwards. 



417. Minnigaff. — My informant's husband had an adder-stone. It 

 was a small round stone with a hole in the centre. 



418. Kirkmaiden. — If a fire is kept burning for seven years con- 

 tinuously, a serpent issues from it. 



419. Corsock. — A cure for the sting of an adder is for the one stung 

 to drink new milk to vomiting. 



420. A cure is to drink new milk and to rub the wound with a salve 

 made by boiling ash leaves with new milk. 



421. Borgue. — A decoction of ash leaves boiled in milk is applied to 

 the wound caused by the bite of an adder. My informant saw this 

 applied to the cure of a calf stung by an adder about 1850. 



The Wasp. 



422. Rerrick. — It is the belief that wasps do not sting during the 

 month of September. 



The Black Snail. 



423. Dairy. — In going on a journey if you meet a black snail, take it 

 by the horns, throw it over the right shoulder without looking behind, 

 and money will be got before the journey is finished. 



